Fischer said he and associates have identified athletes from the NBA, NCAA, professional boxing, tennis and MMA, in addition to other professional baseball players who have not yet been identified. As far as he knows, Fischer said, Bosch had no clients from the NFL or NHL….

He said the only sports entity he has heard from was Major League Baseball.

No names of those other athletes have been released.

As anyone who has followed this story even casually knows, Fischer has plenty of credibility issues of his own. That said, the people at Biogenesis did a good job of keeping records, not only of who came to the clinics but of emails, texts and other correspondence.

The NBA has a policy of testing for PEDs, although the people doing designer PEDs have always been one step (or more) ahead of enforcement efforts. The NBA does not have a blood test in place for Human Growth Hormones yet, with Commissioner David Stern saying at Summer League that has to be negotiated with the union, and those kinds of negotiations are on hold until they get a new full time executive director. The current NBA rules call for a 20-game suspension for the first offense of testing positive, a second violation earns 45 games off, a third means banishment from the league.

Count me in the group that thinks there is more PED use in the NBA than people realize. I don’t think it’s as rampant as other sports, but the idea that a PED to help speed recoveries from workouts would not benefit a player in the off-season or during long road trips is naive at best. The fact is when millions of dollars are on the line people will cheat the rules, and that is the case with NBA contracts.

But as of now there is no evidence of which — if any — NBA players were tied to the clinic and what they may have taken. (I know a bunch of you will end up speculating in the comments and name players you hate, everyone is innocent until proven guilty and as of right now there is no proof of anything here.)

I don’t remember playing tonight. I didn’t play. Guys get a lot of money to be ready to play. No Knute Rockne speeches. It’s your job. If you’re a plumber and you don’t do your job, you don’t get any work. I don’t think a plumber needs a pep talk. If a doctor botches operations, he’s not a doctor anymore. If you’re a basketball player, you come ready. It’s called maturity. It’s your job.

Like it or not, motivation is part of an NBA coach’s job.

But that’s also precisely what Popovich is doing.

His credentials dwarf any other coach’s. He can play to his own ego and absolve himself of responsibility – and players will seek to please him. His years of success have earned him the ability to motivate this way, a method no other coach could use without alienating his team.

So, why not hold Motiejunas to what became a four-year, $31 million offer sheet once matched? Houston got something in return – a later trigger date on guaranteeing Motiejunas’ 2017-18 salary. Originally, that decision had to be made March 1 – which would’ve meant dropping Motiejunas from the team this season to prevent his salary from counting next season. Now, the Rockets can make that call in July, after this season is complete.

The following two Julys, Houston will also have a choice on guaranteeing Motiejunas’ upcoming salary or dropping him.

Essentially, Motiejunas is signing the most lucrative Hinkie Special in NBA history. If he plays well and stays healthy, the Rockets have Motiejunas at an affordable rate. If he struggles or his back injuries flare up, they can drop him with little to no penalty.

After they backed themselves into this corner, Motiejunas and his agent, B.J. Armstrong, didn’t do so bad. Considering the similarity between this contract and the Nets’ original offer sheet, it seems Houston helped Armstrong save face after a bungled free agency (which is easier to accept when you’re adding a talented reserve to a formidable team).

But for how little is guaranteed and how much control the Rockets hold over the next four years, wouldn’t Motiejunas have been better off accepting the $4,433,683 qualifying offer?

This means Motiejunas can’t sign with the Nets, who signed him to the original offer sheet, for one year.

I bet it also means Motiejunas and Houston have agreed to a new contract. Otherwise, why release him from the offer sheet? The Rockets would be giving up a tremendous amount of leverage out of the goodness of their hearts – unless this is just a prelude to a new deal with Houston.